Can-cap-placing machine.



ATTORNEYS s SHEETSw-SHEET 1.

l/VI/E/VTOR 1 7 I [w/JW Patented J'an.25,1910.

JF u/J W. G. PALMER.

CAN GAP PLACING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 24, 1909 m m W W. G. PALMER.

CAN GAP PLACING MACHINE.

APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 24, 19 09.

3 SHEETSSHEBT 2.

Fig- Q I l i l I" a o II a 9 Q Q n. g G I. g E) I I WITNESSES I//VVE/VTOR 0M gt ab I 7, BY :z

ATTOR/VE VS W. G. PALMER. CAN GAP PLACING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.24, 1909. 947, 5 v Patented Jan. 25, 1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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VIIlIIII/IlIIlIlIIlI/l WITNESSES l/vr/E/v'mlz ATTORNEYS WILLIAM G.FAJLMER, 0F HART, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNUR 0F ONE-ALF T0 WILLIAM R.

ROACH, 0F HART, MICHIGAN.

CAN-CAP-PLACING MACHINE canoes.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. as. rain.

Application filed March 24, 1909. Serial N0.'A85,546.

The object of my invention is to devise a piece of apparatuswhich' shallautomatically transfer the caps from a cap-magazine and place them inproper posltlon' on the cans, thus dispensing w1th hand labor.

To this end my invention comprises a capmagazine, a reciprocatingejector for withdrawing the lowermost of a stack of caps from themagazine and sliding it onto a captrack, a propelling device for movinthe caps along the cap-track, and an inc ined track-end for uiding thecap upon the top of the can winch is being carried along below the track-end by the can -conveyer whereupon, on the forward motion of the can,the can-aperture flange gradually draws the. cap into registeringengagement therewith. 3 In the drawings,Figure l is a plan of myapparatus; lug. 2 is a sectional detailv showing an arm carrying aweighted cappropeller; 3 is a horizontal plan View,

partly in section on a plane taken below the bed plate of Fig. 1.; Figs.3 and 3* being details; Figs is an end elevation of the cap-magazine;Fig. 5 is a detail of the can- 'conveyer; Figs. 6, 6- and 7 showlongitudinal central sections through the ejector for ithdrawing capsfrom the magazine; and

Figs. 8,9 and 10 showsectional details illustrating the transfer of thecaps from the inclined track-end to the aperture.

l: shall first describe the ejector mechanism for withdrawingfthecapsfrom the capmagazine. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, there is a frame A. inwhich the slide A reciprocates, a screw A being provided to adjust theextent of motion. The slide A carries a hinged and spring-pressedejector A sup-- plied with a cam A which camcooperates ejector-point A,against the tension of the portion A.

spring A below the surface of the guiding frame. The ejector-lever Alies in the direction of motion of the slide, in which position itobviously acts more efliciently than if .it were mounted at right anglesto or across this direction of motion. Stated differently the axis uponwhich the lever is hinged is at rightangles to the direction ofreciprocation of the slide. The magazine A which may be made tall enoughto -hold any convenient number of caps, has a slot A wide enough topermit a single cap to be drawn therethrough. But in order to preventany jamming of the caps, I mount a hinged stop A tensloned by the springA, upon the capma azine and arrange it so as to contact wit 1 the ed eof the cap above the bottom cap, thusho ding it in place while thelowest cap'is being withdrawn. A weight-actuated stopmight obviously besubstituted for the spring-actuated stop A The operation of thecap-ejector will now be :clear. When the slide is in the position shown"in Fig. 6,. the ejector-point takesunder the inneredge of the cap, beingforced above the general surface ,of the ejector-frame A by. the springA. The slide A being moved to the I'lglilli, the lowest cap of themagazine is drawn through the slot A out upon the surface of the frameA. When the position indicated in Fig. 7 is approached, the depressinstop A", acting against the cam A, forces t e lunged ejector A -dewnagainst the tension of the spring A to withdraw the ejector-point A fromcontact with the cap. The cap thus lies upon the frame A, ready to bemoved onto the cap-trackby the cap-propelling devices. At the instantthe lowest cap is being withdrawn from the cap-magazlne, the inclinededge of the lo cap forces the superposed stack of caps remain ng in themagazine up by a small amount. The hinged stop A however, keepscontactwith, the second or superposed cap, rotating a trifle u on its hinge forthis purpose. This action is illustrated in Fig. 6"". The result mabe'efi'ected by providing'the end of the inged stop A with a verticalportion A for engaging;

withthe second cap and with an incline The sliding lowermost cap bycontact with the inclined portion A", exerts a force which swings thestop A upwardly upon its hinge and thus permits the vertical portion Ato remain in contact with the superposed cap in its upward tiltingmotion. The withdrawal of. the bottom cap from the magazine has atendency to leave .the two or three'lowest caps remaining in themagazine in a position in which they do not lie accurately superposed.-To rectify this, I provide the pair of abutments A (Figs. 1 and 3 uponthe slideA. The

motion of the slide toward the. magazine flanges B fastened upon thebase plate,

' the which flanges in the preferred form are circular and may overhangthe edges of the cap to a trifling extent .to steady its motion. At theend of the track, there 'is secured a track-end B which, as shown inFigs. 8, 9 and 10, is preferably inclined and which may be made of sprinmetal or hinged. Th1s track-end may be adjusted to just clear ath of thecap-top or to be in actual yielding contact'therewith. The caps arepropelled along the track by the propellingarms C, of which four areshown 1n the present instance, which propelling-arms are hin ed to asleeve C mounted on the power sha t D, a weight C being secured to eachhinged arm C to ive it a downward bias and a propeller having apropelling oint C bein fastened upon the end of the iiin ed arm in themanner shown in Fi 2. anifestly the point C may be ma e heavy enough todispense with the weight C There 1s a cam-track C which is a device fordisengaging the propeller from thecap by raising t e propelling-pointupward out of contact'with the cap at the appropriate time. The trackalso prevents the propeller from dropping into'a slot shown in the bedplate at this point.- A similar track C accomplishes a similar purposeat the opposite side of the machine.

It will be" evidentthat when the ejector has withdrawn a cap from themagazine and hasplaced it at the entry of the trackflanges B aS shown indotted lines in Fig. 1, thepro eller-point C. will contact with the backe geof the cap and move it along the track between the'cap-track flangesB and toward the inclined track-end B The action by which the cap takesits place in the can-groove surrounding the can apershaft, to whichhinged propeller-arms are secured, moves in synchronism or in time withthe can-conveyer, by means described later on. The propeller-arms andcans must thus move together. i The cap is moved to a point at which itsfront edge projects slightly beyond the inclined track-end B and intothe path of the can-aperture flange E-'. This can aperture flange E iwill be understood, is, the circular flange hich surrounds the centralcan aperture and which, as cans are now made, is itself surrounded by agroove in which the circular cap-edge fits when the can is capped. Thetiming of the parts, in case a can having a raised rim E is employed, issuch that the front edge of the cap first strikes the top of the can Eat a point between the raised rim E and the can-aperture flange E isused on the can, it will manifestly suflice to have the front edge ofthe cap get into the path of the can-aperture flange Efl some timebefore this has passed. Further motion of the can to the right, in Fig.8, is preferably unaccompanied by any forward motion of the cap whichmay be accomplished by placing the cam 0 so that it now comes in actionand raises the propelling point C out of contact with the rearedge ofthe cap. It results that forward motion of the can, the cap beingstationary or moving more slowly forward than the can, brings thecan-aperture flange E in contact with the forward cap-edge. Continuedforward motion of the can thereupon draws the cap forward with the can.-In fact the cap gradually moves into and registers with thecan-groovewhich defines the can aperture, all sudden or falling motions of the capbeing largely avoided. A stationary spring finger C is provided toprevent the cap from accidentally flipping upward. This finger alsoexercises a downward pressure when the cap, in its inclined position ofFig. 9,, is being drawn forward by the can. In this way more effectiveregistration of cap and can is secured. Furthermore if a cap happens tobe upside down from false stacking in the magazine, the canapertureflange will not engage the capedge so that the cap will not registerwith the can-aperture. In this case the springfinger C may be positionedto dislodge the If no raised rim E.

cap from the can and the operator will be d the conveyer.

The means for rotating the power shaft D 1n synchronism or in time withthe capconveyer consists in a star wheel D, shown in full lines in Fig.3 and in dotted lines in Fig. 1. This star wheel is secured to the shaftD and is rotated by the cans on the conveyer. The cans in their forwardmot1on push agamst the points of the star wheel to rotate the star wheeland the shaft eaaeea D to which it is secured in synchronism with whicha reciprocating motion is conveyed to the slide A offthe ejectormechanism. This consists of a four armed cam F, Fig. 2, sef curedflt othe power shaft D. I The cam-arms operateagainst a pin F mounted upon anarm F which is hinged to the base plate of the machine at F, Fig. lyand'WlllCl'l has formed therein a slot F, at the end opposite the hinge,cooperating with the in A upon the slide A". A helical spring 5 issecured to the machine frame and the hinged-arm F to secure the returnmotion of the slide A toward the cap-magazine.

The operation of the slide operating means a can-conveyer, acap-magazine, a cap-meetwill now be understood. The rotation of thepower shaft D rotates the cam-arms-which, acting against the pin F turnthe hingedarm F on its hinges downwardly in Fig.

The slotted end 0 the'hing ed arm F in its downward motion carries withit the in A and consequently the slide'A to which gradually draws thecap into registering eng gement therewith, substantially asdescribed. f

2. A can-cap cent to the path of the can-top, a stationary ward cap-edgebeyond the track-en the path of.the passing caneaperture flange,'whereby the can aperture flange gradually finger at the track-end,'and apropeller in time with tlie conveyer for movin the forand into draws theca into registering engagement therewith, substantially as described.

- 3. A can-cap placing machine comprising a can-conveyer, a yie d endadjacent to the path of the can-top, and.

a propeller in time with the conveyer for moving the forward cap-edgebeyond the track-end and into the path of thepassmg can-aperture flange,whereby the can-aperplacin machine com rising, a can-conveyer, an incmed track-en ad a mounted on the sha ing, inclined tracksubstantially asdescribed.

device for disengaging the propeller from the capi whereby thecan-aperture flange gradual draws the cap into registering engagementtherewith, substantially as; descr bed. p

' 5. A can-cap placin machine comprising a can-conveyer, a trac -e'ndadjacent to the path of the can-top, an upwardly movable propeller intime wlth the conveyer for pro .jecting the cap-edge beyond thetrack-end and into the path of the assing can-aperture flange, and acam-trach for disengaging the propeller from the cap, whereby thecanaperture tiange gradually draws the cap into registering engagementtherewith, substantially as described.

6. can-cap placing machine comprising ing device therefor, a stationary,circular cap-track upon which the caps slide flatwise, and-arotarypropeller for sliding the caps from; their ejected position in front oft e cap magazine along the circular cap-track and over the can-conveyer,substantially as described. i

- A can-cap placing machine comprising a can-conveyer, a stationary,circular cape track, upon which the caps slide flatwlse, a

cap-magazine provided with a cap-ejecting device a rotary, hingedropeller concentric with the circu ar track or sliding the ca s fromtheir ejected position in front of t e cap-magazine along the circularcap-track and over the can-conveyer, and a device for disengaging thehinged propeller from the cap, substantially as described.

ice

8. A cancap placing machine com rising a can-conveyer, a circularcap-track aving atra'ck -end, a cap-magazine-provided with acap-ejecting device, a shaft'concentric' with the track carrying a starwheel for enga e-' .ment with the cans and a cap-propel er it,substantially. as described.

9. A can-cap placing machine comprise 'ing. a can-conveyer, a cap-trackhaving a track-en d, a cap-magazine provided witl a reciprocatingcap-ejecting device, a cap-' propeller, a power shaft, a cam mountedthereon, and-a hinged arm connected with the reciprocating. caprejectorand operated. by the cam, substantially as described. 7

10. The combination of a can-cap magazine, a reciprocating slide and aspringpressed ejector-lever having its axls at right angles to thereciprocation of the slide, tor-contacting with the edge of the can-capto remove it from the 11. The combination of a can-cap magazine, areciprocating slide, a spring-pressed ejector-lever having its axis atright angles tojthereciprocation of the slide, and a projecting point onthe lever for contacting with the inneredge ot the can-cap towithmagazine,

- pressing stop to withdraw the lever from contact with the cap upon itsremoval from the magazine, substantially as described.

13. The combination of a can-cap maga-- zine carrying superposed caps, areciprocating slide carrying an ejector for the bottom cap, andayieldlng stop coacting with a superposed cap, substantially asdescribed.

14. The combination of a can-cap magazine carrying superposed. caps, areciproeating slide carrylng an ejector for the bottom cap and ayielding stop having a portion coacting with the first superposed capand an inclined portion coacting with the cap to be withdrawn,substantially as described.

15. The combination of a can-cap. magazine carrying superposed caps, areciprocatin slide a s rin ressed e'ector cari ried thereon forcontacting with the inner edge of the can-cap, and an abutment carriedupon the slide to force the lower cap or caps into proper position,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM G. PALMER.

